Traditional hemp crafts bring villagers prosperity

In 2017, when Liu Pujun arrived in Binhe No 4 village serve as the Party secretary, he found that many left-behind women and elderly people were idle all day long.

Having learned that many of the villagers were skilled in making embroidery, he transformed some idle houses in the village into a handicraft workshop and encouraged the villagers to make embroidery to increase their income.

But the embroidery sales were not good due to limited market demand.

Then, Liu thought of the hemp-woven crafts of Zhang Jing, an inheritor of the traditional intangible heritage in Ningxi Hui autonomous region.

"Hemp is widely cultivated in southern Ningxia. The material is environmentally friendly and the crafts made from it are good works of art," said Liu.

So he invited Zhang to teach villagers how to weave hemp.